While the title to this post might suggest that we’re going to put Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Conversion Optimisation through some kind of mud pit-like duel, the truth is that, like with many online services (SEO & PPC, ORM & WebPR) these two should work together to help you reach and convert your website visitors, and aren’t really in competition.

The reason the two are discussed in a “vs.” context however, is that SEM is often focused on, while Conversion Optimisation is neglected. This is a waste, as they present two steps in the same process – the one gets visitors to your site, while the other ensures that they fulfill the conversion goals you have set.

Wikipedia describes Search Engine Marketing as “a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).” While there are a few conflicting definitions of SEM out there, the most general one seems to include Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), PPC and Paid inclusion as the ways in which this visibility is achieved.  
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is a paid for spot on the search engine results page. Paid inclusion is the process of paying a search engine to spider your site more regularly, thereby guaranteeing that your site will show up in the SERPS. (It should be noted that paid inclusion is a rather contentious practice not really offered by most search engines).

SEM, in its paid and organic forms, can thus get visitors to your site, but to complete the loop and have these visits result in a tangible result, you need to understand and implement the process of Conversion Optimisation.

Conversion Optimisation is the process of maximising the number of website visitors that complete a desired objective. Whether your goal is to sign people up to your newsletter, have them contact you for your business, or simply comment on one of your blog posts, tweaking elements of your site can maximise how successfully you meet these goals.

Once they have landed on your website page they will quickly navigate away from it if the information isn’t relevant to their search, or it’s tough to find what they need. The SEO you’ve invested in should ensure that the landing page is relevant, but it is with Conversion Optimisation that you can refine your webpage elements to be eminently usable, keep visitors on your site and place your conversion goals as an easy priority.

For a few tips on how to do this, keep an eye out for Lyndi’s post - 5 Tips for Conversion Optimisation - tomorrow.